Kemp-Kell Building, circa 1910, now known as the Holt Hotel, was one of the first five-story office buildings in the city.

The Choctaw Native Americans settled the area in the early 19th century from their native Mississippi area once Americans negotiated to relocate them after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek.[6] American settlers arrived in the 1860s to form cattle ranches. The city was officially titled Wichita Falls on September 27, 1872. On that day, a sale of town lots was held at what is now the corner of Seventh and Ohio Streets – the birthplace of the city.[7] The Fort Worth & Denver City Railway arrived in September 1882, the same year the city became the county seat of Wichita County.[6] The city grew westwards from the original FW&DC train depot which was located at the northwest corner of Seventh Street and the FW&DC.[7] This area is now referred to as the Depot Square Historic District,[8][9] which has been declared a Texas Historic Landmark.[10]

The early history of Wichita Falls well into the 20th century also rests on the work of two entrepreneurs, Joseph A. Kemp[11] and his brother-in-law, Frank Kell. Kemp and Kell were pioneers in food processing and retailing, flour milling, railroads, cattle, banking, and oil.[12]

A flood in 1886 destroyed the original falls on the Wichita River for which the city was named.[13] After nearly 100 years of visitors wanting to visit the nonexistent falls, the city built an artificial waterfall beside the river in Lucy Park. The recreated falls are 54 ft (16 m) high and recirculate at 3,500 gallons per minute. They are visible to south-bound traffic on Interstate 44.

The city is currently seeking funding to rebuild and restore the downtown area.[6] Downtown Wichita Falls was the city's main shopping area for many years, but lost ground to the creation of new shopping centers throughout the city beginning with Parker Square in 1953 and other similar developments during the 1960s and 1970s, culminating with the opening of Sikes Senter Mall in 1974.

A devastating tornado hit the north and northwest portions of Wichita Falls along with Sheppard Air Force Base during the afternoon of April 3, 1964. As the first violent tornado on record to hit the Wichita Falls area,[14] it left seven dead and more than 100 injured. Additionally, the tornado caused roughly $15 million in property damage with about 225 homes destroyed and another 250 damaged. It was rated as an F5, the highest rating on the Fujita scale, but it is overshadowed by the 1979 tornado.[15]

An F4 tornado struck the heavily populated southern sections of Wichita Falls in the late afternoon on Tuesday, April 10, 1979 (known locally as "Terrible Tuesday"). It was part of an outbreak that produced 30 tornadoes around the region. Despite having nearly an hour's advance warning that severe weather was imminent, 42 people were killed (25 in vehicles) and 1,800 were injured because it arrived just in time for many people to be driving home from work.[16] It left 20,000 people homeless and caused $400 million in damage, a U.S. record not topped by an individual tornado until the F5 Moore-Oklahoma City tornado of May 3, 1999.[17]

Wichita Falls is about 15 miles (24 km) south of the border with Oklahoma, 115 mi (185 km) northwest of Fort Worth, and 140 mi (230 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 70.71 square miles (183.1 km2), of which 70.69 square miles (183.1 km2) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.052 km2) (0.03%) is covered by water.[18]

Wichita Falls experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classificationCfa), with some of the highest summer daily maximum temperatures in the entire U.S. outside of the Desert Southwest. Temperatures have hit 100 °F (38 °C) as early as March 27 and as late as October 17, but more typically reach that level on 28 days annually, with 102 days of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher annually; the average window for the latter mark is April 9–October 10. However, 59 to 60 nights of freezing lows occur, and an average of 4.8 days where the high does not rise above freezing. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 42.0 °F (5.6 °C) in January to 84.4 °F (29.1 °C) in July. Extremes in temperature have ranged from −12 °F (−24 °C) on January 4, 1947, to 117 °F (47 °C) on June 28, 1980. Snowfall is sporadic and averages 4.1 in (10 cm) per season, while rainfall is typically greatest in early summer.

In September 2011, Wichita Falls became the first Texas city[19] to have 100 days of 100 °F (38 °C) in one year.[a]

During the 2015 Texas–Oklahoma floods, Wichita Falls broke its all-time record for the wettest month, with 17.00 inches of rain recorded in May 2015.[21]

Wichita Falls is no longer experiencing drought conditions. During a three-week period in May 2015, 17 inches of rain filled the city's water-source lakes, Arrowhead and Kickapoo, ending the drought. The lakes went from just below 19% capacity to 100% capacity. The drought began in 2011, when the city experienced 100 days of 100 °F weather and a significant decline in annual rainfall. The city averages 28.5 in of rain a year. In 2011, the city received only 13 in; 2012 had 19.75 in, and in 2013 23 in. The city implemented significant conservation efforts and constructed a direct potable reuse system (DPR) that took treated wastewater, which normally emptied into the Wichita River, and sent it to the water treatment plant, where it was blended with raw lake water and treated a total of five times through various cleaning processes, all approved and monitored by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The blended and treated water was then placed into the water system. City Mayor Glenn Barham explained, "This reuse system will put five million gallons [of water] back in the distribution system each day. The city saves five million gallons from being taken out of the lake." Within 7 months, the DPR produced 1 billion gallons of source water.[24][25][26]

As of the census[3] of 2000, 104,197 people, 37,970 households, and 24,984 families resided in the city.[30] The population density was 1,474.1 inhabitants per square mile (569.2/km2). The 41,916 housing units averaged 593.0 per square mile (229.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 75.1% White, 12.4% African American, 0.9% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 6.4% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 14.0% of the population.[30]

Of the 37,970 households, 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were not families. About 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46, and the average family size was 3.04.[30]

In the city, the population was distributed as 24.7% under the age of 18, 15.2% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.7 males.[30]

The median income for a household in the city was $32,554, and for a family was $39,911. Males had a median income of $27,609 versus $21,877 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,761. About 10.8% of families and 13.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.[30]

Wichita Falls is part of a bi-state media market that also includes the nearby, smaller city of Lawton, Oklahoma. According to Nielsen Media Research estimates for the 2016–17 season, the market – which encompasses ten counties in western north Texas and six counties in southwestern Oklahoma, has 152,950 households with at least one television set, making it the 148th-largest television market in the United States; the market also has an average of 120,200 radio listeners ages 12 and over, making it the 250th largest radio market in the nation.[32][33]

Nearby Lake Wichita was dredged in 1901 at a cost of $175,000 through the efforts of entrepreneur Joseph Kemp. The 234-acre (95 ha) Lake Wichita Park is on the north shore of the lake. This park offers a 2.6-mile concrete hiking and bicycling trail that runs from the southern tip of the park at Fairway Avenue to the dam. The trail resumes northward to Lucy Park. The park has a playground, basketball courts, and multiple picnic areas. The 10-unit picnic shelter can seat 60 people and is available for rent. The park also has two lighted baseball and two lighted softball fields, three lighted football fields, and an 18-hole disc golf course. The park has the only model airplane landing strip in the Texas state park system. An off-leash dog park is available.[34]

Because of drought, the fish population in Lake Wichita has been damaged by golden algae blooms and periods of low dissolved oxygen. Therefore, the lake was not recommended in 2013 as a destination for fishing.[35] When available, the fish population consists mostly of white bass, hybrid striped bass, channel catfish, and white crappie. Camping facilities are also available.[36]

Lucy Park is a 170-acre (69 ha) park with a log cabin, duck pond, swimming pool, playground, frisbee golf course, and picnic areas. It has multiple paved walkways suitable for walking, running, biking, or rollerskating, including a river walk that goes to a recreation of the original falls for which the city was named (the original falls were destroyed in a 19th-century flood; the new falls were built in response to numerous tourist requests to visit the "Wichita Falls"). It is one of 37 parks throughout the city. The parks range in size from small neighborhood facilities to the 258 acres of Weeks Park featuring the Champions Course at Weeks Park, an 18-hole golf course. In addition, an off-leash dog park is within Lake Wichita Park and a skatepark adjacent to the city's softball complex. Also, unpaved trails for off-road biking and hiking are available.[citation needed]

The mayor of Wichita Falls is Stephen Santellana, who was elected in 2016. The Wichita Falls City Council has six members: District 1-Stephen Santellana, District 2-DeAndra Chenault, District 3-Brian Hooker, District 4-Tim Ingle, District 5-Tom Quintero, and Councilor-at-Large-Michael Smith. The city manager is Darron Leiker.

Wichita Falls is the western terminus for Interstate 44. U.S. Highways leading to or through Wichita Falls include 287, 277, 281, and 82. State Highway 240 ends at Wichita Falls and State Highway 79 runs through it. Wichita Falls has one of the largest freeway mileages for a city of its size[citation needed] as a result of a 1954 bond issue approved by city and county voters to purchase rights-of-way for several expressway routes through the city and county, the first of which was opened in 1958 as an alignment of U.S. 287 from Eighth Street at Broad and Holliday Streets northwestward across the Wichita River and bisecting Lucy and Scotland Parks to the Old Iowa Park Road, the original U.S. 287 alignment.[citation needed] That was followed by other expressway links including U.S. 82–287 east to Henrietta (completed in 1968), U.S. 281 south toward Jacksboro (completed 1969), U.S. 287 northwest to Iowa Park and Electra (opened 1962), Interstate 44 north to Burkburnett and the Red River (opened 1964), and Interstate 44 from Old Iowa Park Road to U.S. 287/Spur 325 interchange on the city's north side along with Spur 325 from I-44/U.S. 287 to the main gate of Sheppard Air Force Base (both completed as a single project in 1960). However, cross-country traffic for many years had to contend with several ground-level intersections and traffic lights over Holliday and Broad Streets near the downtown area for about 13 blocks between connecting expressway links until a new elevated freeway running overhead was completed in 2001.[citation needed]

Efforts to create an additional freeway along the path of Kell Boulevard for U.S. 82–277 began in 1967 with the acquisition of right-of-way that included a former railroad right-of-way and the first project including construction of the present frontage roads completed in 1977, followed by freeway lanes, overpasses, and on/off ramps in 1989 from just east of Brook Avenue west to Kemp Boulevard; similar projects west from Kemp to Barnett Road in 2001 followed by Barnett Road west past FM 369 in 2010 to tie in which a project now underway to transform U.S. 277 into a continuous four-lane expressway between Wichita Falls and Abilene.[citation needed][43]

Greyhound Lines provides intercity bus service to other locations served by Greyhound via its new terminal at the Wichita Falls Travel Center located at Fourth and Scott in downtown[44]. Skylark Van Service shuttles passengers to and from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on several runs during the day all week long.[45]

Newby-McMahon Building, c. 1919, also known as the "Worlds Littlest Skyscraper"

"Times Square", which includes the Wichita Falls Times Record News and Kemp Center for the Arts on Lamar Street

Sacred Heart Catholic Church

First Baptist Church, circa 1919-21

Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 1915

Railroad exhibit at Depot Square

The Museum of North Texas History on Indiana Street in downtown Wichita Falls

The J. S. Bridwell Agricultural Center off Burnett Street hosts various exhibits throughout the year. It is named for the oilman, rancher, and philanthropist Joseph Sterling Bridwell

The Wichita Falls City Hall occupies the bottom floor of the Memorial Auditorium, 1927; a municipal annex building is located to the right of the auditorium

Wichita Falls Public Library

Bob Waggoner/First Wichita Building "Big Blue", 1920. Renovated exterior in 1960 to add blue aluminum siding. Now serves as the American National Bank

The Wichita Tower office building (established 1920)

The Kell House, located across from the First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, was inhabited by members of the Kell family from 1910 to 1980. It was turned into a museum after the death of Willie May Kell, daughter of entrepreneur Frank Kell and the former Lula Kemp, sister of another Wichita Falls business pioneer Joseph A. Kemp

Wichita Opera House/Wichita Theater, 1908

Central YMCA, 1949

Elks Home BYSP Office, 1930

The Studio Hotel (LaSalle Crossing) was built by Wiley Wyatt in 1923. Restored to original 1923 design

Kemp Center for the Arts

Downtown Wichita Falls with location of the first Zales jewelry store on front left, Holt Hotel on front right, American Bank and Trust Company in back right, and Wichita Tower on back left

^The previous record was 79 in 1980; a 52-day stretch, June 22 to August 12, of uninterrupted 100°F highs, and 100-day stretch, May 27 to September 3, of interrupted 90°F highs occurred. In addition, the all-time warm daily minimum of 88 °F (31 °C) was set on July 26, and June, July, and August of that year were all the hottest on record.[20]

^Le Templar (March 19, 1999). "Historic District Could Expand". Wichita Falls Times Record News. Wichita Falls, Texas: E. W. Scripps Company. p. A1. ISSN0895-6138. Retrieved 2010-10-09. The Wichita Falls Landmark Commission wants to more than double the size of the downtown historic district in an effort to slow the loss of buildings that proclaim the city's heritage. Commission members voted unanimously Thursday for expanding the district to include a total of 77 buildings on Indiana and Ohio streets.

1.
City
–
A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, a big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas. Once a city expands far enough to another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. Damascus is arguably the oldest city in the world, in terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai. There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities, some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces. The conventional view holds that cities first formed after the Neolithic revolution, the Neolithic revolution brought agriculture, which made denser human populations possible, thereby supporting city development. The advent of farming encouraged hunter-gatherers to abandon nomadic lifestyles and to settle near others who lived by agricultural production, the increased population density encouraged by farming and the increased output of food per unit of land created conditions that seem more suitable for city-like activities. In his book, Cities and Economic Development, Paul Bairoch takes up position in his argument that agricultural activity appears necessary before true cities can form. According to Vere Gordon Childe, for a settlement to qualify as a city, it must have enough surplus of raw materials to support trade and a relatively large population. To illustrate this point, Bairoch offers an example, Western Europe during the pre-Neolithic, when the cost of transport is taken into account, the figure rises to 200,000 square kilometres. Bairoch noted that this is roughly the size of Great Britain, the urban theorist Jane Jacobs suggests that city formation preceded the birth of agriculture, but this view is not widely accepted. In his book City Economics, Brendan OFlaherty asserts Cities could persist—as they have for thousands of years—only if their advantages offset the disadvantages, OFlaherty illustrates two similar attracting advantages known as increasing returns to scale and economies of scale, which are concepts usually associated with businesses. Their applications are seen in more basic economic systems as well, increasing returns to scale occurs when doubling all inputs more than doubles the output an activity has economies of scale if doubling output less than doubles cost. To offer an example of these concepts, OFlaherty makes use of one of the oldest reasons why cities were built, in this example, the inputs are anything that would be used for protection and the output is the area protected and everything of value contained in it. OFlaherty then asks that we suppose the protected area is square, the advantage is expressed as, O = s 2, where O is the output and s stands for the length of a side. This equation shows that output is proportional to the square of the length of a side, the inputs depend on the length of the perimeter, I =4 s, where I stands for the quantity of inputs. So there are increasing returns to scale, O = I2 /16 and this equation shows that with twice the inputs, you produce quadruple the output

2.
Wichita River
–
The Wichita River, part of the Red River watershed, lies in north-central Texas. The Texan Santa Fe Expedition crossed the river at the site of present-day Wichita Falls in 1841 and found a large Wichita Indian village at the site, the river was later named after the tribe. Today, the largest human settlement on the river is the city of Wichita Falls, the city after nearly 100 years of visitors wanting to visit the non-existent falls built an artificial waterfall beside the river in Lucy Park. The recreated falls are 54 feet high and recirculate at 3,500 gallons per minute and they are visible to south-bound traffic on Interstate 44. The Wichita River has three tributaries, the Wichita proper, as stated above, is formed by the confluence of its North and South Forks, the North Fork runs for 100 miles from northeastern Dickens County through King, Cottle, and Foard counties before joining the South Fork. The Middle Fork flows 35 miles from north-central King County to its meeting with the North Fork in southwestern Foard County. The South Fork rises in eastern Dickens County and runs for 100 miles through King and Knox Counties before joining the North Fork, geology of Wichita Falls, Texas List of rivers of Texas WICHITA RIVER, Handbook of Texas Online, accessed April 12,2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association

3.
Interstate 44
–
Interstate 44 is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Nominally an east-west road as it has a number, it follows a more southwest-northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, Texas at a concurrency with U. S. Route 277, US281, I-44 is one of five interstates built to bypass U. S. Route 66, this highway covers the section between Oklahoma City and St. Louis. Virtually the entire length of I-44 east of Springfield, Missouri was once US66, in the U. S. state of Texas, I-44 has a short, but regionally important,14.77 miles stretch, connecting Wichita Falls with Oklahoma. The route runs almost due north to the Texas–Oklahoma state line at the Red River, in Wichita Falls, I-44 runs concurrent with US277, US281, and US287, and is known locally as the Central Freeway. I-44 provides access to downtown Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base, I-44 in Oklahoma is mostly three separate toll roads, it is paralleled by former US66 from Oklahoma City to the Missouri line. In southwestern Oklahoma, I-44 is the H. E. Bailey Turnpike and is mainly south–north, in the Oklahoma City area, I-44 is either six or eight lanes, it runs concurrent with I-35 for about 4 miles in Oklahoma City. From Oklahoma City, I-44 becomes southwest–northeast as the Turner Turnpike towards Tulsa, after I-44 leaves Tulsa, it becomes the Will Rogers Turnpike to the Missouri state line. I-44 enters Missouri southwest of Joplin near the tripoint of Oklahoma, Missouri and it misses the Kansas border by less than 200 yards. The first exit in Missouri is for US-166, I-44 continues through the southern part of Joplin, where it becomes concurrent with the new Missouri segment of I-49. East of Joplin, I-49 splits off on its own alignment to Kansas City, I-44 then continues east on the former US-166 to Mount Vernon. At the northeast part of Mount Vernon, I-44 heads northeast, the section of road to Halltown is a completely new road, not bypassing any previous highways. At Halltown, the road follows the pathway of US-66 all the way to downtown St. Louis. I-44 passes through Springfield on the side of the city. At Waynesville, I-44 enters a hilly and curvy area until it passes Rolla. Although the road passes through some hilly areas, none are as steep as that particular stretch. At Pacific, I-44 begins to widen to six lanes, later to eight lanes, until a future second span of the new bridge is completed, there will be no way for I-44 traffic to utilize the new Stan Musial Veterans Memorial span without first exiting to surface streets. I-44 traffic wishing to continue northeast and east must use the Poplar Street Bridge, at some places, an Alternate I-44 is posted

4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation

5.
U.S. state
–
A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance

6.
Texas
–
Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south

7.
List of counties in Texas
–
The state of Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U. S. state. Texas was originally divided into municipalities, a unit of government under Spanish. When the Republic of Texas gained its independence in 1836, there were 23 municipalities, many of these would later be divided into new counties. The last county to be created was Kenedy County in 1921. Most of these recent counties, especially near the northwest, were created from Bexar County during the 1870s, each county is run by a commissioners court, consisting of four elected commissioners and a county judge elected from all the voters of the county. In smaller counties, the county judge actually does perform judicial duties, certain officials, such as the sheriff and tax collector, are elected separately by the voters, but the commissioners court determines their office budgets, and sets overall county policy. All county elections are partisan, the one exception is the Board of Trustees of the Dallas County department of education, while the counties have eminent domain power and control all unincorporated land within their boundaries, they have neither home-rule authority nor zoning power. The county is responsible for providing essential services, unlike other US states, Texas does not allow for consolidated city-county governments. Cities and counties are permitted to enter interlocal agreements to share services, school districts are independent of county and city government. The Federal Information Processing Standard code, which is used by the United States government to identify states and counties, is provided with each entry. Texass code is 48, which combined with any county code would be written in the form of 48XXX. The FIPS code for each county in the links to census data for that county. There have been at least thirty-two counties established by Texas law that no longer exist, buchel County, formed in 1887 from Presidio County. Annexed in 1897 to Brewster County, Dawson County, formed in 1858 in what is now Kinney County and Uvalde County and abolished in 1866. Abolished in 1899 and annexed to Webb County, foley County, formed in 1887 from Presidio County. Annexed in 1897 to Brewster County, separated from Texas by U. S. Supreme Court ruling in United States v. State of Texas,162 U. S.1 and is now part of southwestern Oklahoma. Perdido County, formed in 1824 and forgotten during the upheavals of the 1840s, perdido was reportedly abolished in 1858 and again in 1871. Records of annexation to Dawson County are also inconclusive, Santa Fe County, Texas formed in 1848 from lands claimed by the Republic of Texas and ceded by Mexico

8.
Wichita County, Texas
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Wichita County is a county located in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 131,500, the county seat is Wichita Falls. The county was created in 1858 and organized in 1882, Wichita County is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 633 square miles. The county is drained by the Wichita River and other streams, as of the census of 2000, there were 131,664 people,48,441 households, and 32,891 families residing in the county. The population density was 210 people per square mile, there were 53,304 housing units at an average density of 85 per square mile. 12. 23% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race, in 2000, there were 1,869 unmarried partner households,1,677 heterosexual,94 same-sex male, and 98 same-sex female. 27. 20% of all households were made up of individuals and 10. 60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.04. In the county, the population was out with 25. 20% under the age of 18,13. 70% from 18 to 24,29. 00% from 25 to 44,19. 50% from 45 to 64. The median age was 33 years, for every 100 females there were 103.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.40 males, the median income for a household in the county was $33,780, and the median income for a family was $40,937. Males had an income of $28,687 versus $21,885 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,965, about 10. 30% of families and 13. 20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17. 40% of those under age 18 and 9. 80% of those age 65 or over. From 1917 to 1921, he was a regent of the University of Texas System, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice James V. Allred Unit is located in Wichita Falls. The Sheriff of Wichita County is David Duke and he first took office on January 1,2009. Wichita County is represented in the Texas House of Representatives by the Republican James Frank, Wichita County cast the majority of its votes for Republican John McCain. He won 69% of the vote and 31,673 votes, democrat Barack Obama received 30% of the vote and 13,828 votes. Other candidates received 1% of the vote, in 2004, Republican George W. Bush did better than John McCain and won 71% of the vote and 32,472 votes

9.
City Council
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A city council, town council, town board, or board of aldermen is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area. Because of the differences in legislation between the states, the definition of a City Council varies. However, it is only those local government areas which have been specifically granted city status that are entitled to refer to themselves as cities. The official title is Corporation of the City of ------ or similar, some of the larger urban areas of Australia are governed mostly by a single entity, while others may be controlled by a multitude of much smaller city councils. Also some significant urban areas can be under the jurisdiction of rural local governments. Periodic re-alignments of boundaries attempt to rationalize these situations and adjust the deployment of assets, the 2001 Local Government Act restyled the five county boroughs of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, and Limerick as city councils, with the same status in law as county councils. For many decades until the government reforms of 1989, a borough with more than 20,000 people could be proclaimed a city. The boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, as a result, the term city began to take on two meanings. The word city came to be used in a formal sense to describe major urban areas independent of local body boundaries. This informal usage is jealously guarded, gisborne, for example, adamantly described itself as the first city in the world to see the new millennium. Gisborne is administered by a council, but its status as a city is not generally disputed. Under the current law the minimum population for a new city is 50,000, in the Republic of China, a city council represents a provincial city. Members of the councils are elected through local elections for provincial cities which are held every 4–5 years, Councils for the provincial cities in Taiwan are Chiayi City Council, Hsinchu City Council and Keelung City Council. In the UK, a city council is, In England, a parish council that has been granted city status. The council of a London borough that has been granted city status, in Wales, The council of a principal area that has been granted city status. A community council that has been granted city status, in Scotland, The council of one of four council areas designated a City by the Local Government etc. City councils and town boards generally consist of elected aldermen or councillors. In the United States, members of city councils are typically called council member or council man/woman, while in Canada they are typically called councillor

10.
City Manager
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A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities. Other small or middle sized American cities, especially in the West, in Europe, smaller cities in the Netherlands were specially attracted by the plan. Most sources trace the first city manager to Staunton, Virginia in 1908, some of the other cities that were among the first to employ a manager were Sumter, South Carolina and Dayton, Ohio, Dayton was featured in the national media, and became a national standard. The first City Managers Association meeting of eight city managers was in December 1914, by 1930200 American cities used a city manager form of government. In addition, many states, such as the states of New Hampshire, the City Manager position focuses on efficiency and providing a certain level of service for the lowest possible cost. The competence of a city manager can be assessed using composite indicators, Manager members of the ICMA are bound by a rather rigid and strongly enforced code of ethics that was originally established in 1924. Since that time the code had been up-dated/revised on seven occasions, in the early years of the profession, most managers came from the ranks of the engineering professions. As of 2005 more than 60% of those in the profession had a MPA, MBA, the average tenure of a manager is now 7–8 years and has risen gradually over the years. Tenures tend to be less in smaller communities and higher in larger ones, educational Level of Local Government Managers, Local government Local government in the United States council-manager government Clerk Kemp, Roger L. Managing Americas Cities, A Handbook for Local Government Productivity, McFarland, jefferson, NC, USA, and London, Eng. UK1998. _______, Model Government Charters, A City, County, Regional, State, jefferson, NC, USA, and London, Eng. UK,2003 _______, Forms of Local Government, A Handbook on City, County and Regional Options, McFarland, jefferson, NC, USA, and London, Eng. The rise of the city manager, A public professional in local government, organized business and the city commission and manager movements. In JSTOR White, Leonard D. Staunton, Virginia, Birthplace Of City Manager Form Of Government, a history on the city manager system of government

11.
2010 United States Census
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The 2010 United States Census, is the twenty-third and currently most recent United States national census. National Census Day, the day used for the census, was April 1,2010. As part of a drive to increase the accuracy,635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, as required by the United States Constitution, the U. S. census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. The 2000 U. S. Census was the previous census completed, participation in the U. S. Census is required by law in Title 13 of the United States Code. On January 25,2010, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves personally inaugurated the 2010 Census enumeration by counting World War II veteran Clifton Jackson, more than 120 million census forms were delivered by the U. S. Post Office beginning March 15,2010, the number of forms mailed out or hand-delivered by the Census Bureau was approximately 134 million on April 1,2010. The 2010 Census national mail participation rate was 74%, from April through July 2010, census takers visited households that did not return a form, an operation called non-response follow-up. In December 2010, the Census Bureau delivered population information to the president for apportionment, personally identifiable information will be available in 2082. The Census Bureau did not use a form for the 2010 Census. In several previous censuses, one in six households received this long form, the 2010 Census used only a short form asking ten basic questions, How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1,2010. Were there any additional people staying here on April 1,2010 that you did not include in Question 1, mark all that apply, Is this house, apartment, or mobile home – What is your telephone number. What is Person 1s age and Person 1s date of birth, is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin. Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else, the form included space to repeat some or all of these questions for up to twelve residents total. In contrast to the 2000 census, an Internet response option was not offered, detailed socioeconomic information collected during past censuses will continue to be collected through the American Community Survey. The survey provides data about communities in the United States on a 1-year or 3-year cycle, depending on the size of the community, rather than once every 10 years. A small percentage of the population on a basis will receive the survey each year. In June 2009, the U. S. Census Bureau announced that it would count same-sex married couples, however, the final form did not contain a separate same-sex married couple option

12.
List of United States cities by population
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The following is a list of the most populous incorporated places of the United States. As defined by the United States Census Bureau, an incorporated place includes a variety of designations, including city, town, village, borough, a few exceptional Census Designated Places are also included in the Census Bureaus listing of incorporated places. Consolidated city-counties represent a type of government that includes the entire population of a county. Some consolidated city-counties, however, include multiple incorporated places and this list presents only that portion of such consolidated city-counties that are not a part of another incorporated place. A different ranking is evident when considering U. S. metropolitan area populations, the following table lists the 304 incorporated places in the United States with a population of at least 100,000 on July 1,2015, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. A city is displayed in if it is a state or federal capital. Five states—Delaware, Maine, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming—do not have cities with populations of 100,000 or more, smaller incorporated places are not included. The mean density is 4,128.21 inhabitants per square mile, the median is 3,160.85 inhabitants per square mile. The following table lists the five municipalities of Puerto Rico with a greater than 100,000 on July 1,2016. Census-designated places with populations of at least 100,000 according to the 2010 Census, a CDP is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns. CDPs are populated areas that lack separate municipal government, but which otherwise physically resemble incorporated places, unlike the incorporated cities in the main list, the US Census Bureau does not release annual population estimates for CDPs. S. Cities that, in past censuses, have had populations of at least 100,000 but have since decreased beneath this threshold or have been consolidated with or annexed into a neighboring city. The percent decline in population from its peak Census count to the most recent Census estimate in 2015, any additional notes of significant importance. Demographics of the United States United States Census Bureau List of U. S. S

13.
Urban area
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An urban area is a human settlement with high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, in urbanism, the term contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets and in urban sociology or urban anthropology it contrasts with natural environment. The worlds urban population in 1950 of just 746 million has increased to 3.9 billion in the decades since, in 2009, the number of people living in urban areas surpassed the number living in rural areas and since then the world has become more urban than rural. This was the first time that the majority of the population lived in a city. In 2014 there were 7.25 billion people living on the planet, Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. Urban areas are measured for various purposes, including analyzing population density, historian John Gurda writes, I have tried to uncover Milwaukees civic bedrock - the shifting foundation on which individuals have built their lives and the community has constructed its identity. There is no doubt that the deepest layer of bedrock is economic. In every age, people have chosen to live in areas not because of their climates or landmarks or cultural attractions. It was economic opportunity that brought people to Milwaukee, and it is economic opportunity that keeps them there, I define cities as concentrations of people animated by concentrations of capital. More simply put, money is the root of all cities, official definitions vary somewhat between nations. The ten largest metropolitan areas account for half of the population, about 3 million people live in Buenos Aires City and the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area totals around 13 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world. The metropolitan areas of Córdoba, Rosario, Mendoza and Tucumán have around 1.3 million inhabitants each and La Plata, seven other provinces have over one million people each, Mendoza, Tucumán, Entre Ríos, Salta, Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones. According to IBGE urban areas already concentrate 84. 35% of the population, while the Southeast region remains the most populated one, with over 80 million inhabitants. The largest metropolitan areas in Brazil are São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte — all in the Southeastern Region — with 20,12, and 5 million inhabitants respectively. The majority of state capitals are the largest cities in their states, except for Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo, and Florianópolis, there are also non-capital metropolitan areas in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. According to Statistics Canada, an area in Canada is an area with a population of at least 1,000 people where the density is no fewer than 400 persons per square kilometre. If two or more areas are within 2 km of each other by road, they are merged into a single urban area. Accordingly, the new definition set out three types of population centres, small, medium and large

14.
List of United States urban areas
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Below is a list of urban areas in the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau, ordered according to their 2010 census populations. In the table, UA refers to urbanized area and UC refers to urban cluster, the list includes urban areas with a population of at least 50,000. To qualify as an area, the territory identified according to criteria must encompass at least 2,500 people. These criteria result in large urban agglomerations that encompass multiple urban areas from the 2000 census. The Census Bureau is considering whether to split up the larger agglomerations, but published potential agglomerations in August 2010. S

15.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people

16.
North American Central Time Zone
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The North American Central Time Zone is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, during summer most of the zone uses daylight saving time, and changes to Central Daylight Time which is five hours behind UTC. The province of Manitoba is the province or territory in Canada that observes Central Time in all areas. Also, most of the province of Saskatchewan is on Central Standard Time year-round, major exceptions include Lloydminster, a city situated on the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city charter stipulates that it shall observe Mountain Time and DST, putting the community on the time as all of Alberta, including the major cities of Calgary. As a result, during the summer, clocks in the province match those in Alberta. The Central Time Zone is the second most populous in the US after the Eastern Time Zone, lanett and Valley observe Eastern Time historically because they were textile mill towns and the original home office of their mills was in West Point, Georgia. Some eastern counties observe Central Time because they are close to the border of the Middle Tennessee counties surrounding the Nashville metropolitan area. Louisiana Michigan, All of Michigan observes Eastern Time except the four Upper Peninsula counties that border Wisconsin, other westernmost counties from this area such as Ontonagon observe Eastern Time. South Dakota, Eastern half as divided by the Missouri river adjacent to the state capital, note, the metropolitan area of Pierre is Central, including Fort Pierre. Wisconsin Most of Mexico—roughly the eastern three-fourths—lies in the Central Time Zone, except for six northwestern states, the federal entities of Mexico that observe Central Time, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua all use Central Standard Time year-round. The Galápagos Islands in Ecuador uses Central Standard Time all year-round, Daylight saving time is in effect in much of the Central time zone between mid-March and early November. The modified time is called Central Daylight Time and is UTC−5, in Canada, Saskatchewan does not observe a time change. One reason that Saskatchewan does not take part in a change is that, geographically. The province elected to move onto permanent daylight saving by being part of the Central Time Zone, Mexico decided not to go along with this change and observes their horario de verano from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In December 2009, the Mexican Congress allowed ten border cities, eight of which are in states that observe Central Time, to adopt the U. S. daylight time schedule effective in 2010

17.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year

18.
UTC-5
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UTC−05,00 is a time offset that subtracts five hours from Coordinated Universal Time. In North America, it is observed in the Eastern Time Zone during standard time, the western Caribbean uses it year round. The southwestern and northwestern portions of Indiana Mexico – Central Zone Central, in most of Mexico, daylight time starts a few weeks after the United States. Communities on the U. S. border that observe Central Time follow the U. S. daylight time schedule

19.
ZIP code
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ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, a hyphen, and four additional digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP Code. The term ZIP Code was originally registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, USPS style for ZIP is all caps and the c in code is also capitalized, although style sheets for some publications use sentence case or lowercase. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers, the United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example, Mr. John Smith 3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue Minneapolis 16, by the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1,1963, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide. Three months later, on October 1,1963, the U. S, an earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with one exception, according to the historian of the U. S. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP Code, he submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The post office gives credit to Moon only for the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or sec center, an SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes, the mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. The United States Post Office used a character, which it called Mr. ZIP. He was often depicted with a such as USE ZIP CODE in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4, often called plus-four codes, add-on codes, or add ons. But initial attempts to promote use of the new format met with public resistance. For Post Office Boxes, the rule is that each box has its own ZIP+4 code. However, there is no rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box. It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster,9999 for general delivery, for a unique ZIP Code, the add-on code is typically 0001

20.
Geographic Names Information System
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It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names to promote the standardization of feature names, the database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited, variant names, alternatives to official federal names for a feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a permanent, unique feature record identifier, sometimes called the GNIS identifier, the database never removes an entry, except in cases of obvious duplication. The GNIS accepts proposals for new or changed names for U. S. geographical features, the general public can make proposals at the GNIS web site and can review the justifications and supporters of the proposals. The Bureau of the Census defines Census Designated Places as a subset of locations in the National Geographic Names Database, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28 gives standards for addressing mail. In this publication, the postal service defines two-letter state abbreviations, street identifiers such as boulevard and street, department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Division, Digital Gazeteer, Users Manual. Least Heat Moon, William, Blue Highways, A Journey Into America, standard was withdrawn in September 2008, See Federal Register Notice, Vol.73, No. 170, page 51276 Report, Principles, Policies, and Procedures, Domestic Geographic Names, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28, November 2000. Board on Geographic Names website Geographic Names Information System Proposals from the general public Meeting minutes

21.
Interstate Highway
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The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways is a network of controlled-access highways that forms a part of the National Highway System of the United States. The system is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its formation, construction was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, and the original portion was completed 35 years later, although some urban routes were cancelled and never built. The network has since been extended and, as of 2013, as of 2013, about one-quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country use the Interstate system. In 2006, the cost of construction was estimated at about $425 billion, the nations revenue needs associated with World War I prevented any significant implementation of this policy, which expired in 1921. In the plan, Mehren proposed a 50, 000-mile system, the system would include two percent of all roads and would pass through every state at a cost of $25,000 per mile, providing commercial as well as military transport benefits. As the landmark 1916 law expired, new legislation was passed—the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 and this new road construction initiative once again provided for federal matching funds for road construction and improvement, $75 million allocated annually. The Bureau of Public Roads asked the Army to provide a list of roads that it considered necessary for national defense. A boom in construction followed throughout the decade of the 1920s. As automobile traffic increased, planners saw a need for such a national system to supplement the existing, largely non-freeway. By the late 1930s, planning had expanded to a system of new superhighways, in 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Thomas MacDonald, chief at the Bureau of Public Roads, a hand-drawn map of the United States marked with eight superhighway corridors for study. He recognized that the system would also provide key ground transport routes for military supplies. The publication in 1955 of the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways, informally known as the Yellow Book, assisting in the planning was Charles Erwin Wilson, who was still head of General Motors when President Eisenhower selected him as Secretary of Defense in January 1953. The Interstate Highway System was authorized on June 29,1956 by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate, three states have claimed the title of first Interstate Highway. Missouri claims that the first three contracts under the new program were signed in Missouri on August 2,1956, the first contract signed was for upgrading a section of US Route 66 to what is now designated Interstate 44. On August 13,1956, Missouri awarded the first contract based on new Interstate Highway funding, kansas claims that it was the first to start paving after the act was signed. Preliminary construction had taken place before the act was signed, the state marked its portion of I-70 as the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The Pennsylvania Turnpike could also be considered one of the first Interstate Highways, on October 1,1940,162 miles of the highway now designated I‑70 and I‑76 opened between Irwin and Carlisle. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refers to the turnpike as the Granddaddy of the Pikes, October 12,1979, The final section of the Canada to Mexico freeway Interstate 5 is dedicated near Stockton, California

22.
Interstate 44 in Texas
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In the U. S. state of Texas, Interstate 44 has a short but regionally important 14. 77-mile stretch, connecting Wichita Falls with Oklahoma. Its entire length is concurrent with U. S. Highway 277, I-44 provides access to downtown Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base. The Interstate 44, US-277, US-281, US-287 concurrency is known as Central Freeway throughout the city, for example, I-44 East is known as Central Freeway East. I-44 begins near exit 1 in Wichita Falls concurrent with US277, US281, US281 and US287 continue to the south while US277 leaves the concurrency at exit 1, which also provides access to US82. I-44 heads north through Wichita Falls to an interchange with US287, US287 leaves the concurrency as a freeway to the west while Spur 325 leaves the interchange towards the northeast providing access to Sheppard Air Force Base and Wichita Falls Municipal Airport. I-44 continues to the north as it leaves the Wichita Falls city limits at Bacon Switch Road, the freeway enters the Burkburnett city limits south of an interchange at FM3429. Heading north through the city, I-44 has interchanges with SH240, after passing Spur 383, I-44 begins to head towards the northeast before its final interchange in Texas at Loop 267. I-44 leaves the state of Texas at its crossing of the Red River, I-44 was signed south from Oklahoma City past I-40, along the H. E. Bailey Turnpike, in 1982. This expanded the interstate by some 100 miles to Texas and this additional signage included the Red River Expressway in Burkburnett and the Central Freeway in Wichita Falls, to 8th street. For many years, the freeway ended here, forcing traffic to exit onto the service roads, in the early 2000s, the Central Freeway was extended through the downtown area, connecting directly to the Central East Freeway. The entire route is in Wichita County

23.
U.S. Routes
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The United States Numbered Highway System is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. The route numbers and locations are coordinated by the American Association of State Highway, the only federal involvement in AASHTO is a nonvoting seat for the United States Department of Transportation. Generally, north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, with lowest numbers in the east, the area of the thirteen states of the United States. Similarly, east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the north, where roads were first improved most intensively, major north–south routes have numbers ending in 1 while major east–west routes have numbers ending in 0. Three-digit numbered highways are spur routes of parent highways but are not necessarily connected to their parents, some divided routes exist to provide two alignments for one route, even though many splits have been eliminated. Special routes, usually posted with a banner, can provide various routes, such as an alternate, bypass or business route, Routes were designated, auto trails designated by auto trail associations were the main means of marking roads through the United States. In 1925, the Joint Board on Interstate Highways, recommended by the American Association of State Highway Officials, after several meetings, a final report was approved by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in November 1925. They received complaints from across the country about the assignment of routes, so the Board made several modifications, as a result of compromises made to get the U. S. Highway System approved, many routes were divided, with alignments to serve different towns. In subsequent years, AASHTO called for such splits in U. S, expansion of the system continued until 1956, when the Interstate Highway System was formed. After construction was completed, many U. S, Routes were replaced by Interstate Highways for through traffic. Highways still form many important regional connections, and new routes are still being added, Routes do not have a minimum design standard, unlike the later Interstate Highways, and are not usually built to freeway standards. Many are designated using the streets of the cities and towns through which they run. New additions to the system, however, must substantially meet the current AASHTO design standards, as of 1989, the United States Numbered Highways system has a total length of 157,724 miles. Except for toll bridges and tunnels, very few U. S. AASHTO policy says that a road may only be included as a special route. U. S. Route 3 meets this obligation, in New Hampshire, but US Routes in the system do use parts of four toll roads, US51 uses part of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in Illinois, the old road is Illinois Route 251. US278 uses the tolled Cross Island Parkway in South Carolina, US412 uses the Cimarron Turnpike in Oklahoma, the old road is US64. US412 also uses the Cherokee Turnpike in Oklahoma, the old road is Alternate US412, Routes follow a simple grid in the contiguous United States, in which odd-numbered routes run generally north to south and even-numbered routes run generally east to west

24.
U.S. Route 82 in Texas
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In the U. S. state of Texas, U. S. Route 82 is a U. S. Highway that begins on the New Mexico border and heads east through West Texas and Lubbock to the Arkansas border at Texarkana. US82 crosses into Texas from New Mexico at Texas Farm to Market Road 769, turning northeastward toward Plains, US82 is co-signed with US380 from Plains to Brownfield, where it joins US62, and US380 leaves the route. US 82/62 continues northeastward toward Lubbock, on the east side of the city, it once again merges with US62 where it continues eastward through Ralls, where US62 makes a sharp turn to the north and leaves the route. After climbing out of Blanco Canyon, US82 eventually exits the Llano Estacado, US 82/SH114 continues eastward as a co-signed route until Seymour, where it merges with U. S. Highways 183,277 and 283, with US183 and 283 leaving the route at Mabelle, US 82/277 continues eastward to Wichita Falls, merging with I-44 and US287 just south of downtown at Mile marker 0. The highway continues east towards Whitesboro, Texas and Sherman, Texas where it crosses US Highway 75 at a diamond interchange. Prior to the 1990s, the two ran concurrently on the route of Texas State Highway 56 before being rerouted northeast of Sherman on its present-day route. The highway continues east to Bells, Texas where US82 cross US Route 69, in Bonham, Texas, US82 crosses Texas SH121 while the route runs parallel with SH56 until Honey Grove, Texas where SH56 ends. The Marsha Sharp Freeway, named for former Texas Tech Lady Raiders basketball coach Marsha Sharp, is currently being built along US82 in Lubbock, in 1998, funding was first received. The five-phase project was scheduled to be completed in 2015, phase 2 of the project was scheduled to be completed in December 2008 at a cost of $140 million. It involved construction of the freeway from Salem Avenue to Avenue L and erecting interchanges at 19th Street, Quaker Avenue, Fourth Street, currently construction on the freeway has started from Millwaukee ave to Upland ave and on the intersection of spur 327 and U. S. 62/82. It is being upgraded to a 4 lane divided highway west of Nocona

25.
U.S. Route 277
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U. S. Route 277 is a north–south United States Highway. It is a spur of U. S. Route 77 and it runs for 633 miles across Oklahoma and Texas. US 277s northern terminus is in Newcastle, Oklahoma at Interstate 44 and its southern terminus is in Carrizo Springs, Texas at U. S. Route 83. It passes through the states of Oklahoma and Texas, most of U. S. 277s route through the two states overlaps other U. S. highways. Through the Lawton area and again from Randlett, Oklahoma, to near downtown Wichita Falls, the highway begins at an intersection with US83 in Carrizo Springs, about 60 miles northwest of Laredo. The highway runs in an east-west direction, until reaching Eagle Pass, from here to Del Rio, the highway parallels the Rio Grande River at the U. S. -Mexico border. The highway overlaps US377 for about 26 miles, with the passing the Amistad National Recreation Area. US277 crosses I-10 near Sonora, before traveling to Eldorado, the highway overlaps both US67 and US87 in the city. In Abilene, the overlaps with US83 and US84. US83 leaves in Anson, traveling to Aspermont, while US277 travels to Stamford, in Seymour, US82 begins an overlap with US277. The two highways enter the city of Wichita Falls, with US82 leaving the highway at US 281/US287, US277 joins US 281/287 and the three highways travel into the downtown area of the city, where I-44 begins. US287 leaves the freeway, while I-44/US 277/US281 travel to Burkburnett, bailey east of Cement, under the interstate south of Fletcher and under the interstate/turnpike on the west side of Elgin. About five miles west of Elgin, U. S.277 rejoins U. S.62 for the next 10 miles with the triplex 62-277-281 route joining Interstate 44 at the point of the H. E. Bailey Turnpike north section near Medicine Park south through Fort Sill to I-44 Exit 40A, U. S.277 and 281 continue their concurrent route with I-44 through the Lawton-Fort Sill area to a point six miles south of Lawton where I-44 becomes the H. E. Bailey Turnpike at the Walters exit and toll plaza, at this interchange, U. S. 277-281 joins I-44 for the last 6 miles in Oklahoma before crossing the Red River into Texas. From Newcastle to the Red River north of Wichita Falls, Texas, present U. S.281 Business and former U. S. S. When US277 was commissioned in 1930, it ended at the Mexico–United States border in Del Rio and it was extended southeast to its present terminus in 1952. The original northern terminus was in Oklahoma City at its intersection with parent route US77, the northern terminus remained there until 1964

26.
U.S. Route 281 in Texas
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U. S. Route 281 is a United States Numbered Highway that runs from the Mexican border in the Rio Grande Valley to the Canadian border near Dunseith, North Dakota. In the state of Texas, the highway is a major south–north corridor, several segments of U. S.281 are concurrent with Interstate routes, including I-69C in the Rio Grande Valley, I-37 in San Antonio, and I-44 north of Wichita Falls. US281 has two signed segments near its terminus in the Rio Grande Valley, both of which are signed west–east. The two segments meet at Cage Boulevard, where changes to south–north, and the highway turns to the north. North of the interchange with I-2, US281 is concurrent with I-69C to that routes terminus in Edinburg. US281 travels through towns and sparsely-populated areas, alternating between a divided highway and a main street, until joining I-37 north of Three Rivers. The two routes south of Pleasanton and separately travel northward to San Antonio. In San Antonio, US281 overlaps I-410 on the side of the city until another interchange with I-37. US281 and I-37 then overlap north into Downtown San Antonio until I-37 ends at I-35, the freeway ends at Loop 1604, and US281 continues through Bexar County as a superstreet. In Central Texas, it serves as the street of Blanco before beginning a concurrency with US290 south of Johnson City. As US290 continues toward Austin, US281 and US290 provide a scenic, the two routes split in the city, with US281 continuing toward Marble Falls, Burnet, and Lampasas. North of Stephenville, US281 crosses I-20 and continues through North Central Texas, passing through Mineral Wells, upon reaching Wichita Falls, US281 becomes a freeway. It begins a concurrency with I-44 at that routes terminus. The highway is currently being expanded from a highway to a four-lane divided highway from River Crossing to the Comal-Blanco county line at a cost of $30.5 million. The section of US281 from I-2/US83 in Pharr to George West is steadily being upgraded to a freeway as part of the Interstate 69 expansion. US Highways in Texas use green reflective labels about every 2 miles on sign posts which also include route markers and they are located immediately below route markers. Numbers increase as one goes south or east and these markers are part of the Texas Reference Marker System, introduced in 1990. The Texas Department of Transportation Statewide Planning Map includes an optional overlay with reference markers

27.
U.S. Route 287 in Texas
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US287 crosses into Texas at Kerrick and continues southeast through to Stratford, where it takes a more southerly turn. In Dumas, US287 merges with its parent route, US87, US287 follows this east-southeasterly path through Clarendon and Childress, where it intersects US Highways 83 and 62. US287 then proceeds to Vernon, where it merges with US70, after US70 and US183 leave the route at Oklaunion and veer to the northeast, US287 resumes its east-southeasterly track passing through Harrold and Electra on its way to Wichita Falls. On the northwest side of the city US287 merges with I-44, US82, after leaving Wichita Falls, US 82/287 continues as a co-signed route until Henrietta, where US82 leaves the route. After merging with US81 in Bowie, US 287/81 continues southeast to Fort Worth and this stretch of US287, which runs from downtown to the southeast side of the city, is also known as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freeway. The highway continues southeastward to Palestine, where it merges with State Highway 19, US 287/SH19 continues as a co-signed route until Crockett, where US287 leaves SH19 and continues its southeasterly track toward the Texas Gulf Coast. In Woodville, US287 merges with US69 and takes on a more due-southerly route to Lumberton, where a co-signed US 69/287 also merges with US96. The highway then continues to the southeast through Beaumont with a stint with Interstate 10 and on to Port Arthur. All of these highways were shortened in the 1939 renumbering. SH19 was deleted until 1960, when it extended back south, roads portal US287 southeast of downtown Fort Worth—from dfwfreeways. info

28.
County seat
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A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is used in the United States, Canada, Romania, China, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, county towns have a similar function. In the United States, counties are the subdivisions of a state. Depending on the state, counties may provide services to the public, impose taxes. Some types of subdivisions, such as townships, may be incorporated or unincorporated. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government is known as the seat of its respective county, a county seat is usually, but not always, an incorporated municipality. The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia, likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey, though unincorporated, is a section of Middle Township, in some of the colonial states, county seats include or formerly included Court House as part of their name. Most counties have only one county seat, an example is Harrison County, Mississippi, which lists both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats. The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult, there have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of pride for the towns involved. There are 36 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states, Coffee County, for example, the official county seat is Greensboro, but an additional courthouse has been located in nearby High Point since 1938. For example, Clearwater is the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, in New England, the town, not the county, is the primary division of local government. Historically, counties in this region have served mainly as dividing lines for the judicial systems. Connecticut and Rhode Island have no county level of government and thus no county seats, in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine the county seats are legally designated shire towns. County government consists only of a Superior Court and Sheriff, both located in the shire town. Bennington County has two towns, but the Sheriff is located in Bennington. In Massachusetts, most government functions which would otherwise be performed by county governments in other states are performed by town governments. As such, Massachusetts has dissolved many of its county governments, two counties in South Dakota have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county

29.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci

30.
Wichita Falls metropolitan area
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The Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan area in North Texas that covers three counties - Archer, Clay, and Wichita. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 151,306. The racial makeup of the MSA was 80. 95% White,8. 92% African American,0. 89% Native American,1. 61% Asian,0. 08% Pacific Islander,5. 05% from other races, and 2. 51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11. 17% of the population, the median income for a household in the MSA was $36,011 and the median income for a family was $42,812. Males had an income of $29,662 versus $21,660 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $17,542, List of cities in Texas List of museums in North Texas Texas census statistical areas List of Texas metropolitan areas

31.
Archer County, Texas
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Archer County is a county located in the US state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 9,054 and its county seat is Archer City. The county was formed in 1858 and later organized in 1880 and it is named for Branch Tanner Archer, a commissioner for the Republic of Texas. Archer County is part of the Wichita Falls, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, Archer County is represented in the Texas House of Representatives by the Republican James Frank, a businessman from Wichita Falls. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 925 square miles. U. S. Highway 82 U. S. Highway 277 U. S, the population density was 10 people per square mile. There were 3,871 housing units at a density of 4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 95. 54% White,0. 08% Black or African American,0. 62% Native American,0. 12% Asian,0. 03% Pacific Islander,2. 28% from other races, and 1. 32% from two or more races. 4. 87% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race, of all unmarried partner households,89. 8% were heterosexual,1. 9% were same-sex male, and 8. 3% were same-sex female. 21. 90% of all households were made up of individuals and 10. 20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.08. In the county, the population was out with 28. 20% under the age of 18,7. 00% from 18 to 24,27. 40% from 25 to 44,23. 50% from 45 to 64. The median age was 38 years, for every 100 females there were 100.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males, the median income for a household in the county was $38,514, and the median income for a family was $45,984. Males had an income of $31,386 versus $22,119 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,300, about 6. 80% of families and 9. 00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9. 90% of those under age 18 and 10. 80% of those age 65 or over. The Seymour Division of the sprawling 320,000 deeded acre La Escalera Ranch is located north of Seymour, Texas in Baylor County and part of Archer County. The Seymour Division consists of 34,000 acres which was known as the Cross Bar Ranch when it was owned by the Claude Cowan Sr. Trust. The ranch was purchased in January,2005 by the Gerald Lyda family and La Escalera Limited Partnership and is managed by partner Jo Lyda Granberg, La Escalera Ranch extends over much of Pecos County and portions of Reeves, Brewster, Archer and Baylor Counties

32.
Clay County, Texas
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Clay County is a county located in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,752, the county was founded in 1857 and later organized in 1860. It is named in honor of Henry Clay, famous American statesman, Kentucky Senator, Clay County is part of the Wichita Falls, Metropolitan Statistical Area in North Texas. Several railroads once served Clay County, including the Wichita Falls Railway, one of the properties of Joseph A. Kemp and his brother-in-law Frank Kell, the Wichita Falls Railway linked Henrietta with Wichita Falls. Built in 1894-1895, it was sold in 1911 to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, the original eighteen miles of track was abandoned in 1970. The Wichita Falls rancher, oilman, and philanthropist Joseph Sterling Bridwell owned a ranch in Clay County, Clay County is represented in the Texas House of Representatives by the Republican James Frank, a businessman from Wichita Falls. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,117 square miles. Lake Arrowhead State Park, a 524-acre development on Lake Arrowhead in Clay County, encompasses 14, 390-acre acres. The lakeshore extends 106 miles, the park offers bicycling, birding, boating, camping, canoeing, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, nature study, picnicking, swimming, the population density was 10 people per square mile. There were 4,992 housing units at a density of 4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 95. 35% White,0. 42% Black or African American,1. 03% Native American,0. 10% Asian,0. 01% Pacific Islander,1. 68% from other races, and 1. 42% from two or more races. 3. 67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,23. 50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the family size was 2.98. In the county, the population was out with 24. 90% under the age of 18,6. 80% from 18 to 24,26. 40% from 25 to 44,25. 90% from 45 to 64. The median age was 40 years, for every 100 females there were 94.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.10 males, the median income for a household in the county was $35,738, and the median income for a family was $41,514. Males had an income of $28,914 versus $20,975 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,361, about 8. 10% of families and 10. 30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11. 70% of those under age 18 and 11. 00% of those age 65 or over

33.
Sheppard Air Force Base
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Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located five miles north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Education, the base is named in honor of Texas Senator John Morris Sheppard, a supporter of military preparations before World War II. As of March 2017, Colonel Ronald E. Jolly is the commander of the 82d Training Wing, Colonel Gregory S. Keeton is the commander of the 80th Flying Training Wing. Sheppard AFB shares one runway with Wichita Falls Municipal Airport under a joint civil-military arrangement, Sheppard Air Force Base is named in honor of Senator John Morris Sheppard of Texas, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee from 1933 until his death on 9 April 1941. Senator Sheppard helped lead the fight for military preparedness before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the base began as Sheppard Field on 300 acres just south of Kell Field, named for the businessman Frank Kell. A Texas cattleman, oilman, and philanthropist, Joseph Sterling Bridwell and it was officially opened as a United States Army Air Corps training center on 17 October 1941, following the arrival of the first military members on 14 June. During World War II, then-Sheppard Field conducted basic training, and it also trained glider mechanics, technical and flying training instructors, in addition to the basic flying training, the base also provided advanced pilot training. Sheppard Field reached its peak strength of 46,340 people while serving as a center for troops being discharged following World War II from September through November 1945. Sheppard Field was deactivated 31 August 1946 and declared surplus to the War Departments needs and it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the United States Army Corps of Engineers 30 April 1947. Over the next two years the Texas National Guard used the base, basic training was discontinued in June 1949, but was resumed from July 1950 to May 1952. The aircraft mechanics school was transferred to Sheppard from Keesler AFB, the school was renamed the Department of Aircraft Maintenance Training within the 3750th Technical School. During the Korean War several airmen from such places as Greece, comptroller, transportation, and intelligence training moved to Sheppard from Lowry AFB, Colorado, in the fall of 1954. Communications, refrigeration, air conditioning, and power production operator and repairman training were transferred here from F. E. Warren AFB, intelligence training returned to Lowry in February 1962. The 3950th Technical Training Wing was designated the Sheppard Technical Training Center 1 January 1959 and it has had two subsequent name changes and is now the 82d Training Wing. Helicopter pilot training was transferred from Stead AFB, Nevada in October 1965, with H-19, H-43, Bell TH-1F, CH-3C, the 3630th Flying Training Wing was activated in 1965, and it assumed the helicopter training program. It began providing undergraduate pilot training in the T-37 and Northrop T-38 Talon for the then-West German Air Force in August 1966, helicopter training was discontinued in 1971 when the U. S. Army assumed responsibility for training Air Force helicopter pilots at Fort Rucker, Alabama. The 3630th Flying Training Wing also provided undergraduate pilot training for pilots of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force from 1971 to 1975, the Wing designation was changed to the 80th Flying Training Wing on 1 January 1973. The 80th Flying Training Wing began conducting the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program in 1981, approval to conduct the program was recently extended through the year 2005

34.
World's littlest skyscraper
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The Newby-McMahon Building, commonly referred to as the worlds littlest skyscraper, is located at 701 La Salle in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas. This late Neoclassical style red brick and cast stone structure is 40 ft tall and its interior dimensions are approximately 12 ft by 9 ft, or approximately 108 sq ft. Steep, narrow, internal stairways leading to the upper floors occupy roughly 25 percent of the interior area. Reportedly the result of a fraudulent investment scheme by a confidence man, during the 1920s, the Newby-McMahon Building was featured in Robert Ripleys Ripleys Believe It or Not. Syndicated column as the worlds littlest skyscraper, a nickname that has stuck with it ever since, the Newby-McMahon Building is now part of the Depot Square Historic District of Wichita Falls, a Texas Historic Landmark. A large petroleum reservoir was discovered just west of the city of Burkburnett, Burkburnett and its surrounding communities became boomtowns, experiencing explosive growth of their populations and economies. By 1918, an estimated 20,000 new settlers had taken up residence around the oil field. As people streamed into the communities in search of high-paying jobs. Because office space was lacking, major stock transactions and mineral rights deals were conducted on street corners and in tents that served as makeshift headquarters for the new oil companies. The oil-rig construction firm of J. D. McMahon, a petroleum landman, McMahon collected $200,000 in investment capital from this group of naive investors, promising to construct a highrise office building across the street from the St. James Hotel. The key to McMahons swindle, and his defense in the ensuing lawsuit, was that he never verbally stated that the actual height of the building would be 480 feet. The proposed skyscraper depicted in the blueprints that he distributed was clearly labeled as consisting of four floors and 480 inches. As the building began to shape, the investors realized they had been swindled into purchasing a four-story edifice that was only 40 ft tall. They did recover a portion of their investment from the elevator company. There was no stairway installed in the building upon its initial completion, rather, a ladder was employed to gain access to the upper three floors. By the time construction was complete, McMahon had left Wichita Falls and perhaps even Texas, upon its completion and opening in 1919, the Newby-McMahon Building was an immediate source of great embarrassment to the city and its residents. The ground floor had six desks representing the six different companies that occupied the building as its original tenants, throughout most of the 1920s, the building housed only two firms. During the 1920s, the Newby-McMahon Building was featured in Robert Ripleys Ripleys Believe It or Not, syndicated column as the worlds littlest skyscraper, which is a name that has stuck with it ever since. The oil industry would ultimately prove to be a curse to Wichita Falls

35.
Robert Ripley
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LeRoy Robert Ripley, better known by the name Robert Ripley, was an American cartoonist, entrepreneur, and amateur anthropologist, who is known for creating the Ripleys Believe It or Not. Newspaper panel series, radio show, and television show which feature odd facts from around the world, in 1919 Ripley married Beatrice Roberts. He made his first trip around the world in 1922, delineating a travel journal in installments and this ushered in a new topic for his cartoons, unusual and exotic foreign locales and cultures. Because he took the veracity of his work seriously, in 1923, Ripley hired a researcher. In 1926, his feature moved from the New York Globe to the New York Post, throughout the 1920s, Mr. Ripley continued to broaden the scope of his work and his popularity increased greatly. He published both a travel journal and a guide to the game of handball in 1925, in 1926, Ripley became the New York state handball champion and also wrote a book on boxing. With a proven record as a versatile writer and artist, he attracted the attention of publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst. In 1929, Hearst was responsible for Believe It or Not, making its syndicated debut in seventeen papers worldwide. With the success of this series assured, Ripley capitalized on his fame by getting the first book collection of his newspaper panel series published, on November 3,1929, he drew a panel in his syndicated cartoon saying Believe It or Not, America has no national anthem. In 1931, John Philip Sousa published his opinion in favor of giving the official status. By a law signed on March 3,1931, by President Herbert Hoover, the 1930s saw Ripley expand his presence into other media. In 1930, he began a run on radio and a nineteen-year association with the shows producer. Funding for his travels around the world were provided by the Hearst organization, and Ripley recorded live radio shows from underwater, the sky, caves, snake pits. The next year he hosted the first of a series of two dozen Believe It or Not, theatrical short films for Warner Bros. & Vitaphone, and King Features published a collected volume of Believe it or Not. He also appeared in a Vitaphone musical short, Seasons Greetings, with Ruth Etting, Joe Penner, Ted Husing, Thelma White, Ray Collins, after a trip to Asia in 1932, Ripley opened his first museum, the Odditorium, in Chicago in 1933. The concept was a success, and at one point there were Odditoriums in San Diego, Dallas, Cleveland, San Francisco, and New York City. By this point in his life, Ripley had been voted the most popular man in America by the New York Times, received a degree from Dartmouth College

36.
Ripley's Believe It or Not!
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Ripleys Believe It or Not. is an American franchise, founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. The Believe It or Not panel proved popular and was adapted into a wide variety of formats, including radio, television, comic books, a chain of museums. The Ripley collection includes 20,000 photographs,30,000 artifacts, with 80-plus attractions, the Orlando-based Ripley Entertainment, Inc. a division of the Jim Pattison Group, is a global company with an annual attendance of more than 12 million guests. Ripley Entertainments publishing and broadcast divisions oversee numerous projects, including the syndicated TV series, the cartoon panel, books, posters. Ripley first called his cartoon feature, originally involving sports feats, Champs and Chumps, Ripley began adding items unrelated to sports, and in October 1919, he changed the title to Believe It or Not. When the Globe folded in 1923, Ripley moved to the New York Evening Post, other writers and researchers included Lester Byck. In 1930, Ripley moved to the New York American and picked up by the King Features Syndicate, paul Frehm won the National Cartoonists Societys Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1976 for his work on the series. Clarke later created parodies of Believe It or Not. for Mad, as did Wally Wood and Ernie Kovacs, the current artist is John Graziano and current researcher is Sabrina Sieck. Dozens of paperback editions reprinting the newspaper panels have been published over the decades, other strips and books borrowed the Ripley design and format, such as Ralph Graczaks Our Own Oddities, John Hixs Strange as it Seems, and Gordon Johnstons It Happened in Canada. Recent Ripleys Believe It or Not, books containing new material have supplemented illustrations with photographs. Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulzs first publication of artwork was published by Ripley and it was a cartoon claiming his dog was a hunting dog who eats pins, tacks, screws, nails and razor blades. Schulzs dog Spike later became the model for Peanuts Snoopy, some notable books, Believe it or not. In 2004 Ripley Entertainment founded Ripley Publishing Ltd, based in the United Kingdom, the company produces the New York Times bestselling Ripleys Believe It or Not. Annuals, the children’s fiction series Ripley’s RBI, a series called the Ripley’s Twists. Special Edition in conjunction with Scholastic USA and a number of other titles, the people whose items are featured in such books as Strikingly True, have what Edward Meyer, Vice President of Exhibits and Archives at Ripley Entertainment Inc. describes as an obsession. “Whatever it is theyre after, it is so important to them all the rest of the world can go on without them. They want to make something that makes them immortal, makes them a different than you. To be included in Ripleys Believe It or Not books, museums, or television shows, items must undergo scrutiny from Ripleys staff and be 100% authenticated

37.
Choctaw
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The Choctaw are Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States. The Choctaw language belongs to the Muskogean language family group, the Choctaw are descendants of the peoples of the Hopewell and Mississippian cultures, who lived throughout the east of the Mississippi River valley and its tributaries. About 1,700 years ago, the Hopewell people built Nanih Waiya, an earthwork mound. The early Spanish explorers of the mid-16th century encountered Mississippian-culture villages, the anthropologist John Swanton suggested that the Choctaw derived their name from an early leader. Henry Halbert, a historian, suggests that their name is derived from the Choctaw phrase Hacha hatak and these included the French, based on the Gulf Coast and in Louisiana, the English of the Southeast, and the Spanish of Florida and Louisiana during the colonial era. During the American Revolution, most Choctaw supported the Thirteen Colonies bid for independence from the British Crown and they never went to war against the United States prior to Indian Removal. In the 19th century, the Choctaw became known as one of the Five Civilized Tribes because they adopted numerous practices of their United States neighbors. The Choctaw and the United States agreed to nine treaties and and they were the first Native Americans forced under the Indian Removal Act. The Choctaw were exiled because the U. S. wanted to expand territory available for settlement by European Americans, to save the tribe from extinction, the Choctaw negotiated the largest area and most desirable lands in Indian Territory. Their early government had three districts, each with its own chief, who together with the town chiefs sat on the National Council and they appointed a Choctaw Delegate to represent them with the US government in Washington, DC. By the 1831 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, those Choctaw who chose to stay in the formed state of Mississippi were one of the first major non-European ethnic groups to become U. S. citizens. During the American Civil War, the Choctaw in both Oklahoma and Mississippi mostly sided with the Confederate States of America, the Confederacy suggested it would support a state under Indian control if it won the war. After the Civil War, the Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana Choctaw fell into obscurity for some time, in 1978, the United Supreme Court of the United states held that all remnants of the Choctaw Nation are entitled to all rights of the Nation. The Choctaw in Oklahoma struggled to build a nation, transferring the Choctaw Academy there, in the aftermath of the Dawes Act, the US dissolved tribal governments and appointed chiefs. During World War I, Choctaw soldiers served in the U. S. military as the first Native American codetalkers, after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Choctaw reconstituted their government, and the Choctaw Nation had kept their culture alive despite years of pressure for assimilation. The third largest federally recognized tribe, since the century, they have created new institutions, such as a tribal college, housing authority. Federal Court of Appeals was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 2002, many thousands of years ago groups classified by anthropologists as Paleo-Indians lived in what today is referred to as the American South. These groups were hunter-gatherers who hunted a wide range of animals, including a variety of megafauna, cushman wrote, the ancient Choctaw through their tradition they saw the mighty beasts of the forests, whose tread shook the earth

38.
Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek
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The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty signed on September 27,1830, between the Choctaw and the United States Government. This was the first removal treaty carried into effect under the Indian Removal Act, the treaty ceded about 11 million acres of the Choctaw Nation in exchange for about 15 million acres in the Indian territory. The principal Choctaw negotiators were Chief Greenwood LeFlore, Musholatubbee, and Nittucachee, the site of the signing of this treaty is in the southwest corner of Noxubee County, the site was known to the Choctaw as Bok Chukfi Ahilha. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was the last major land cession treaty signed by the Choctaw, jackson appointed Eaton and General John Coffee as commissioners to represent him to meet the Choctaws where the rabbits gather to dance. The commissioners met with the chiefs and headmen on September 15,1830, in a carnival-like atmosphere, the US officials explained the policy of removal through interpreters to an audience of 6,000 men, women and children. The Choctaws faced migration west of the Mississippi River or submitting to U. S. the treaty would sign away the remaining traditional homeland to the United States, however, a provision in the treaty made removal more acceptable. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was one of the largest land transfers ever signed between the United States Government and American Indians in time of peace, the Choctaw ceded their remaining traditional homeland to the United States. Article 14 allowed for some Choctaw to remain in the state of Mississippi, if wanted to become citizens. Persons who claim under this article shall not lose the privilege of a Choctaw citizen, in 1831, tens of thousands of Choctaw walked the 800-kilometer journey to Oklahoma and many died. Like the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Seminole who followed them, the Choctaw at this crucial time became two distinct groups, the Nation in Oklahoma and the Tribe in Mississippi. The nation retained its autonomy to regulate itself, but the left in Mississippi had to submit to state. Under article XIV, in 1830 the Mississippi Choctaws became the first major non-European ethnic group to gain U. S. citizenship, the Choctaw sought to elect a representative to the U. S. House of Representatives. The preamble begins with, The following terms of the treaty were,1, lands west of the Mississippi River to be conveyed to the Choctaw Nation. Lands east of the Mississippi River to be ceded and removal to begin in 1831, autonomy of the Choctaw Nation and descendants to be secured from laws of U. S. states and territories forever. U. S. will serve as protectorate of the Choctaw Nation, Choctaw or party of Choctaws part of violent acts against the U. S. citizens or property will be delivered to the U. S. authorities. Offenses against Choctaws and their property by U. S. citizens and other tribes will be examined, no harboring of U. S. fugitives with all expenses to capture him or her paid by the U. S.9. Navigable streams will be free for Choctaws, U. S. post-offices will be established in the Choctaw Nation, intruders will be removed from the Choctaw Nation. U. S. citizens stealing Choctaw property shall be returned, Choctaw offending U. S. laws shall be given a fair and impartial trial

City
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A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, a big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas. Once a city expands far enough to another city, this region can be deemed a co

1.
1908 map of Piraeus, the port of Athens, showing the grid plan of the city

2.
Ancient Ur of Sumer in present-day Tell el-Mukayyar in Iraq, one of the world's earliest cities

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Mohenjo-daro, a World Heritage site that was part of the Indus Valley Civilization

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A map dating 1669 showing the location of Multan, Pakistan

Wichita River
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The Wichita River, part of the Red River watershed, lies in north-central Texas. The Texan Santa Fe Expedition crossed the river at the site of present-day Wichita Falls in 1841 and found a large Wichita Indian village at the site, the river was later named after the tribe. Today, the largest human settlement on the river is the city of Wichita Fal

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The Wichita River, as seen from Lucy Park in Wichita Falls, Texas

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The restored "Falls" of the Wichita River in Lucy Park, Wichita Falls, Texas, off Interstate 44.

Interstate 44
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Interstate 44 is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Nominally an east-west road as it has a number, it follows a more southwest-northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, Texas at a concurrency with U. S. Route 277, US281, I-44 is one of five interstates built to bypass U. S. Route 66, this highway covers t

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I-44 in Oklahoma City

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Interstate 44

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I-44 approached by US-71 just south of Joplin, MO. This photo was taken before US-71 was upgraded to I-49

Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a

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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.

U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of

1.
U.S. states

Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Sta

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Sam Rayburn Reservoir

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Flag

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Texas Hill Country

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Big Bend National Park.

List of counties in Texas
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The state of Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U. S. state. Texas was originally divided into municipalities, a unit of government under Spanish. When the Republic of Texas gained its independence in 1836, there were 23 municipalities, many of these would later be divided into new counties. The last county to be created was Ke

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EP

Wichita County, Texas
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Wichita County is a county located in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 131,500, the county seat is Wichita Falls. The county was created in 1858 and organized in 1882, Wichita County is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area

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The Wichita County Courthouse in downtown Wichita Falls

City Council
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A city council, town council, town board, or board of aldermen is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area. Because of the differences in legislation between the states, the definition of a City Council varies. However, it is only those local government areas which have been specifically granted city sta

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A city council chambers in California

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Hsinchu City Council

City Manager
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A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities. Other small or middle sized American cities, especially in the West, in Eur

1.
This article is about city managers in the United States. For county and city managers in the Republic of Ireland, see Chief executive (Irish local government). For County managers in the United States, see County executive.

2010 United States Census
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The 2010 United States Census, is the twenty-third and currently most recent United States national census. National Census Day, the day used for the census, was April 1,2010. As part of a drive to increase the accuracy,635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, as required by the Unite

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President Obama completing his census form in the Oval Office on March 29, 2010.

2.
Seal of the U.S. Census Bureau

List of United States cities by population
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The following is a list of the most populous incorporated places of the United States. As defined by the United States Census Bureau, an incorporated place includes a variety of designations, including city, town, village, borough, a few exceptional Census Designated Places are also included in the Census Bureaus listing of incorporated places. Con

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Population tables of U.S. cities

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The ten most populous cities of the United States

3.
"List of largest cities in the United States" redirects here. For a list of largest cities by area, see List of United States cities by area.

Urban area
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An urban area is a human settlement with high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, in urbanism, the term contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets and in urban sociology or urban anthropology it contrasts with natural e

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Greater Tokyo Area, the world's most populous urban area, with about 35 million people.

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Buenos Aires Córdoba

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Rosario Mendoza

List of United States urban areas
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Below is a list of urban areas in the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau, ordered according to their 2010 census populations. In the table, UA refers to urbanized area and UC refers to urban cluster, the list includes urban areas with a population of at least 50,000. To qualify as an area, the territory identified according

1.
Population tables of U.S. cities

3.
1 – New York City, New York

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2 – Los Angeles, California

Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban

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An enlargeable map of the 929 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) of the United States and Puerto Rico. The 388 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) are shown in medium green. The 541 Micropolitan Statistical Areas (μSAs) are shown in light green.

North American Central Time Zone
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The North American Central Time Zone is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, during summer most of the zone uses daylight saving time, and changes to Central Daylight Time which

Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a

4.
William Willett independently proposed DST in 1907 and advocated it tirelessly.

UTC-5
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UTC−05,00 is a time offset that subtracts five hours from Coordinated Universal Time. In North America, it is observed in the Eastern Time Zone during standard time, the western Caribbean uses it year round. The southwestern and northwestern portions of Indiana Mexico – Central Zone Central, in most of Mexico, daylight time starts a few weeks after

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Behind (−)

ZIP code
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ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits

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A 1963 U.S. Post Office sign encouraging the use of ZIP codes

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"Use Zip code" labels were also used to promote the use of a ZIP code.

Geographic Names Information System
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It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names to promote the standardization of feature names, the database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the

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The seal of the United States Board on Geographic Names

Interstate Highway
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The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways is a network of controlled-access highways that forms a part of the National Highway System of the United States. The system is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its formation, construction was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, and th

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A rural stretch of I-5, with two lanes in each direction separated by a large grassy median and with cross-traffic limited to overpasses and underpasses

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Interstate Highways in the 48 contiguous states. Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico also have Interstate Highways. (See version with numbers.)

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I‑55 under construction in Mississippi, photo from May 1972

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Interstate highway in New Jersey built to modern standards

Interstate 44 in Texas
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In the U. S. state of Texas, Interstate 44 has a short but regionally important 14. 77-mile stretch, connecting Wichita Falls with Oklahoma. Its entire length is concurrent with U. S. Highway 277, I-44 provides access to downtown Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base. The Interstate 44, US-277, US-281, US-287 concurrency is known as Central Fre

1.
Interstate 44

U.S. Routes
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The United States Numbered Highway System is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. The route numbers and locations are coordinated by the American Association of State Highway, the only federal involvement in AASHTO is a nonvoting seat for the United States Department of Trans

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The "final" U.S. Highway plan as approved November 11, 1926

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Design changes of U.S. Highway shield

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This sign, photographed in 1941 on US 99 between Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, illustrates one rationale for a federal highway system: national defense.

U.S. Route 82 in Texas
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In the U. S. state of Texas, U. S. Route 82 is a U. S. Highway that begins on the New Mexico border and heads east through West Texas and Lubbock to the Arkansas border at Texarkana. US82 crosses into Texas from New Mexico at Texas Farm to Market Road 769, turning northeastward toward Plains, US82 is co-signed with US380 from Plains to Brownfield,

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US 82 Outside of Henrietta, TX

2.
US Highway 82

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The Marsha Sharp Freeway on U.S. Highway 82 in Lubbock

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Heading west on US-82 out of Sherman, TX

U.S. Route 277
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U. S. Route 277 is a north–south United States Highway. It is a spur of U. S. Route 77 and it runs for 633 miles across Oklahoma and Texas. US 277s northern terminus is in Newcastle, Oklahoma at Interstate 44 and its southern terminus is in Carrizo Springs, Texas at U. S. Route 83. It passes through the states of Oklahoma and Texas, most of U. S. 2

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Scenic view of U.S. 277 between Del Rio and Sonora, Texas

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First southbound sign for U.S. 277 in Newcastle, Oklahoma

U.S. Route 281 in Texas
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U. S. Route 281 is a United States Numbered Highway that runs from the Mexican border in the Rio Grande Valley to the Canadian border near Dunseith, North Dakota. In the state of Texas, the highway is a major south–north corridor, several segments of U. S.281 are concurrent with Interstate routes, including I-69C in the Rio Grande Valley, I-37 in S

U.S. Route 287 in Texas
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US287 crosses into Texas at Kerrick and continues southeast through to Stratford, where it takes a more southerly turn. In Dumas, US287 merges with its parent route, US87, US287 follows this east-southeasterly path through Clarendon and Childress, where it intersects US Highways 83 and 62. US287 then proceeds to Vernon, where it merges with US70, a

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U.S. Route 287 in North Texas

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U.S. Route 287 near Midlothian

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US 287 runs northwest-southeast through Childress, located equidistant from Amarillo and Wichita Falls.

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US 287 is concurrent with US 87 between Amarillo and Dumas.

County seat
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A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is used in the United States, Canada, Romania, China, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, county towns have a similar function. In the United States, counties are the subdivisions of a state. Depending on the state, counties may provi

1.
Many county seats in the United States feature a historic courthouse, such as this one in Renville County, Minnesota, pictured in May 2008.

United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean,

1.
Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764

2.
Flag

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The signing of the Mayflower Compact, 1620.

4.
The Declaration of Independence: the Committee of Five presenting their draft to the Second Continental Congress in 1776

Wichita Falls metropolitan area
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The Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan area in North Texas that covers three counties - Archer, Clay, and Wichita. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 151,306. The racial makeup of the MSA was 80. 95% White,8. 92% African American,0. 89% Native American,1. 61% Asian,0. 08% Pacific Islander,5. 05% from other

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Map of Texas highlighting the Wichita Falls metropolitan area.

Archer County, Texas
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Archer County is a county located in the US state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 9,054 and its county seat is Archer City. The county was formed in 1858 and later organized in 1880 and it is named for Branch Tanner Archer, a commissioner for the Republic of Texas. Archer County is part of the Wichita Falls, TX Metropolitan Stat

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The Archer County courthouse in Archer City. The Romanesque style structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Clay County, Texas
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Clay County is a county located in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,752, the county was founded in 1857 and later organized in 1860. It is named in honor of Henry Clay, famous American statesman, Kentucky Senator, Clay County is part of the Wichita Falls, Metropolitan Statistical Area in North Texas. Several ra

Sheppard Air Force Base
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Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located five miles north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Education, the base is named in honor of Texas Senator John Morris Sheppard, a supporter of military preparations b

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82d Training Wing Memorial Day Parade

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90th Flying Training Squadron T-38 Talon

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Main entrance sign

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For the civilian use of this facility, see Wichita Falls Municipal Airport.

World's littlest skyscraper
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The Newby-McMahon Building, commonly referred to as the worlds littlest skyscraper, is located at 701 La Salle in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas. This late Neoclassical style red brick and cast stone structure is 40 ft tall and its interior dimensions are approximately 12 ft by 9 ft, or approximately 108 sq ft. Steep, narrow, internal stairways lead

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Newby-McMahon Building

2.
The Newby-McMahon Building and the Hello Again! storefront in October 2015

Robert Ripley
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LeRoy Robert Ripley, better known by the name Robert Ripley, was an American cartoonist, entrepreneur, and amateur anthropologist, who is known for creating the Ripleys Believe It or Not. Newspaper panel series, radio show, and television show which feature odd facts from around the world, in 1919 Ripley married Beatrice Roberts. He made his first

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Ripley in 1940.

2.
Ripley's Odditorium in Hollywood

Ripley's Believe It or Not!
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Ripleys Believe It or Not. is an American franchise, founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. The Believe It or Not panel proved popular and was adapted into a wide variety of formats, including radio, television, comic books, a chain of museums. The Ripley coll

1.
Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum at Innovative Film City in Bangalore, India.

2.
Robert Ripley 's Believe It or Not (January 12, 1941)

3.
Ripley's in Niagara Falls, Ontario

4.
St. Augustine, Florida Odditorium

Choctaw
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The Choctaw are Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States. The Choctaw language belongs to the Muskogean language family group, the Choctaw are descendants of the peoples of the Hopewell and Mississippian cultures, who lived throughout the east of the Mississippi River valley and its tributaries. About 1,700 years ago, t

1.
Pushmataha

3.
A Choctaw woman

4.
A Mississippian-era priest holding a ceremonial flint mace.

Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek
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The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty signed on September 27,1830, between the Choctaw and the United States Government. This was the first removal treaty carried into effect under the Indian Removal Act, the treaty ceded about 11 million acres of the Choctaw Nation in exchange for about 15 million acres in the Indian territory. The princ

1.
Mosholatubbee sought to be elected to the Congress of the United States. 1834, Smithsonian American Art Museum.

2.
The approximate area that the treaty defined shaded in blue in relation to the future U.S. state of Mississippi.

3.
John Eaton was a close personal friend of Andrew Jackson. He was Secretary of War for the Jackson administration. Painted 1873 by Robert Weir.

1.
A tornado near Anadarko, Oklahoma. The funnel is the thin tube reaching from the cloud to the ground. The lower part of this tornado is surrounded by a translucent dust cloud, kicked up by the tornado's strong winds at the surface. The wind of the tornado has a much wider radius than the funnel itself.

2.
A tornado near Seymour, Texas 1987

3.
This tornado has no funnel cloud; however, the rotating dust cloud indicates that strong winds are occurring at the surface, and thus it is a true tornado.

1.
The CW's original pre-launch logo. At the network's first upfront presentation on May 18, 2006, the provisional blue-and-white rectangle logo that was used during the network's formation announcement in January was replaced by a green-and-white, curved-letter insignia that drew comparisons to the logo used by CNN, another company with Time Warner ownership interest.

1.
Top to bottom, left to right: Downtown Dallas skyline, Old Red Museum, NorthPark Center, Dallas City Hall, Dallas Museum of Art, Winspear Opera House, Perot Museum of Nature and Science, State Fair of Texas at Fair Park, Dallas Union Station, the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, and the American Airlines Center